Jamal’s wife writes to Spanish Govt for his release

Khan’s family has exhausted almost all avenues in their bid to secure his release. As a latest setback,international human rights watchdog Amnesty International wrote back to Farida turning down her plea to intervene in the case on the grounds that human rights violations had taken place.

Farida’s letter to the Spanish Government is addressed to Interior Minister Don Alfredo Perez Rubalcaba. In it,she writes: ‘I regret to note that my husband,Mr Roshan Jamal Khan,who was detained a year ago on 19th January,2008,by the Civil Guards in Barcelona,is being kept in custody without trial. It is further regretted that your Government has held him guilty without proving his alleged crime.’

Khan is one of 14 Muslim men picked up by Spanish authorities from a mosque in Barcelona on January 19 last year in connection with an alleged terror plot to carry out attacks in that city. Four of them,including another Indian,were released later. Khan,who is being held along with nine Pakistanis,was in Spain to explore business opportunities,his family has said.

On January 23 last year,he was produced in a Madrid court where the judge granted his ‘unconditional imprisonment’. On June 18,Khan was again produced in court and his statement recorded,but no charges have been filed against him so far.

According to detention order of the National Court,Khan was detained on three grounds – to ensure his presence during the process of investigation as the risk of flight was rationally inferred; to prevent the concealment,alteration or destruction of sources of relevant evidence for the prosecution; and to prevent the risk of the accused committing other criminal acts.

The order further stated that in assessing these criteria for detention,the credentials of the accused and his family background had to be taken into consideration.

In her letter,Khan’s wife argues that all three criteria do not apply to him. She also provides credentials such as details of his education and former employment to allay the fear that he might commit other criminal activities if released.

“Roshan Jamal Khan has no criminal past. After his arrest in Spain,the top,two investigative agencies of the Government of India,viz. Central Bureau of Investigation & Anti-Terrorism Squad,investigated his credentials right from his college days till his travel to Spain. When these agencies did not find anything incriminatory against him,the Government of India cleared his name,” writes Farida.

Farida goes on to voice fears that her husband would be implicated in false cases,and points out that keeping him in solitary confinement for nearly a year without trial constituted a ‘blatant violation of human rights’.

“It is a rule of justice that a person is presumed innocent until proved guilty. But,your government’s contention that my husband will be permitted “to present all the necessary evidence in his favour” conveys that he has been held guilty without being proved as such by the prosecutors who are supposed to present evidences to prove his guilt,” Farida states in her letter.

Khan’s family had urged Prime Minister Manmohan Singh,the External Affairs Ministry and the Spanish Consulate-General to intervene in the case while immigrant groups have staged protests in Spain seeking his freedom.

In February,Khan’s family also sent documents concerning his case in the form of an appeal to the United Nations Human Rights Council,but a reply is still awaited. They also set up a blog to share information and create greater awareness on Khan’s case.